High school can be overwhelming to some people, but it's important to do well so you can get into a good college and get a job you actually like when you're an adult. However, you don't have to work yourself ragged trying to get through high school. While you do have to put in some work, there are many small, simple steps you can take to make your life a lot easier while still getting good results.

Steps

Part 1

Making Use of Class Time

1

Take notes efficiently, not thoroughly. Some students try to write down everything the teacher says, but that’s far too much work. In some cases, it might even makes it harder to figure out what’s actually important enough to be on a test because you just have too much written down. Furthermore, people get so busy trying to write quickly that you don’t focus on the lecture. You’ll end up with bloated, messy notes that you don’t understand because you weren’t paying the right kind of attention to the class discussion.

It’s easier and more effective to listen to a lecture than it is to transcribe it. Sit back, listen, and write down only the information you think will be on the test.

If the teacher writes something on the board, they’re trying to draw your attention to it for a reason. Write it down.

2

Use an outline format for your notes. It doesn’t require any more effort than taking sloppy, disorganized notes, but writing down your class notes as an outline will show you the connection between ideas later, when you have to go back to your notes and study for a test.

Use a clear hierarchy of indentations so you can easily tell the difference between major points and minor/supporting details. You can disregard some of the supporting details when studying for a test.

3

Save class handouts. If your teacher took the time to create a handout to go along with a lesson, there’s a good chance that the information on it is what your teacher considers to be the most important material from the lecture. There’s a better chance of this information being on a test, so focus on the handouts instead of trying to take notes on an entire lecture.

Store handouts neatly in folders or three ring-binders

Use one folder per class; if you mix up your class materials, you’ll create more work later when you need to study.

4

Learn your teacher’s teaching style early. Every teacher will have their own little quirks. At the beginning of the year, spend some time asking students who’ve had your teachers before what you should expect from them. Observe your teachers closely for the first couple of weeks to figure out how what makes them tick. The better you know your teachers, the more easily you can give them exactly what they want without having to run yourself ragged.

Do any of your teachers go off on long, unrelated tangents on material that won’t be on the test? Feel free to zone out on unimportant information.

Get to know their speaking styles. Some people use vocal emphasis to draw attention to important information that will be on tests, whereas others might use exaggerated hand gestures to highlight information.

How do your teachers grade homework and classwork? Some might assign point or letter grades to small daily assignments, but if everyone just receives a check mark for completion, then you don’t have to work hard to earn your daily credit.

5

Let the teacher explain homework in class. Especially if your teacher gives equal credit for everyone who completed the homework assignment, don’t put more effort than you need to into completing your homework. Often, teachers will go over the answers to the homework in class the next day, and you will get answers to questions that might end up on tests without having to comb through a whole textbook to find them.

Use your discretion about whether or not this step will work for your individual teachers. Some teachers don’t go over homework and readings the next day; in those classes, it might be worth it to spend time on your homework.

Part 2

Making Work Easier For Yourself

1

Use study aids. There are many websites that will help you get by in school by giving you the most important information that most often shows up on tests. Sparknotes, for example, is a well-known study aid that summarizes books for students who either haven’t read the book at all, or who need help understanding major themes and concepts. They also provide study aids for non-literary subjects, from chemistry to computer science.

Read the summaries of assigned books so your teacher won’t be able to tell if you didn’t finish the whole reading.

Use the aids to help you formulate the points of your papers.

Make sure to read the aids carefully. If you haven’t been paying attention in class, you might misunderstand a point and make a very obvious mistake on your paper or test.

Do not plagiarize from these study aids.

2

Create an organizational system for paperwork. At the beginning of the year, take an hour to put together the organizational system that you’ll follow for the whole year. A tiny amount of work at the beginning will save you a lot of unnecessary headaches and work later.

Purchase a hole-puncher, a three-holed folder for each class, three-holed tab separators, and a large three-ring binder to hold all of your notes and documents for all your classes for the year. Make sure the binder is thick enough to house all the materials you’ll gather over the year.

Use the tab separators to create a section for each class. Your binder should move chronologically through your schedule: your first class comes first, and your last class comes last.

Put a labeled folder for each class in the corresponding section of the binder.

Put clean paper in the very front of the binder to take notes. At the end of every class, before you pack up, move your notes to the appropriate section, making sure to keep them in chronological order.

Use your three-hole punch on handouts, and place them in their correct chronological order as well, so all the information on a given subject is in the same place within each section.

Use your folder for documents that can’t be hole-punched — for example, if there’s important information in the margins that you don’t want to ruin with a hole.

3

Choose your teachers wisely. If you know that one history teacher is a harsher grader than the other history teacher, talk to your guidance counselor about getting into the easy grader’s class. Of course, don’t say that you want the easier grade; instead, say that you learn better from that teacher’s instruction style. Explain that you think you’ll get more out of the class if you’re with the right teacher. The school might not let you switch classes, but if it does, you'll have saved yourself a whole year of hard work and bad grades.

4

Enroll in easy classes when necessary. Although it’s not the only thing colleges look at, your GPA is very important if you want to get into a good university. Keep in mind, though, that college admissions offices take into consideration the difficulty of your class schedule when looking at your application. Because of that, you can’t just load your schedule with easy classes; you have to be smart about which easy classes to take.

If you’re naturally gifted in a subject, go ahead and try to take an honors class in that subject.

If you need a subject specifically for your aspirations — biology because you want to be a doctor, for example, and you plan on writing about it in your college entrance essays — don’t take an easy section.

However, if you’re terrible at something, and it’s not part of your dream career, then don’t be ashamed to take an easier class in that area.

You’ll be able to tell college admissions officers about the rigor of your other classes, and you won’t bring your GPA down by taking a class you can’t handle.

5

Enroll in a study hall at the end of the school day. This way, you have time to finish homework during the hours when you have to be in school anyway. By scheduling it at the end of the day, you know that you’ve received all of your assignments from that day, so you can push yourself to finish all of your work before leaving school. When school gets out, you can just enjoy the rest of your day and not have to think about work anymore!

Part 3

Developing Useful Relationships

1

Make a friend who takes good notes. If you can develop a good relationship with someone who puts in the work and takes solid, readable notes during class, then you don’t need to do that work yourself. Before a big test, ask your friend if you can photocopy their notes, and study from those.

To keep your friend from feeling like you’re taking advantage of them, you can alternate days on which you take notes. You take notes one day while your friend relaxes, and switch the next day.

2

Start a study group. While that doesn’t sound like a way to get by without working too hard, it actually is. If your teacher gives you a study guide for a test, and you decide to split up the work with three of your classmates, then you only have to do ¼ of the research you otherwise would have had to do in order to study for the test. In fact, ¾ of the answers to the test just magically appear without you having to do any work. All you have to do is read the work your study group has done for you!

3

Talk to students who have the same class earlier in the day. Most likely, your teachers haven’t made multiple versions of their tests, so on test day, talk to students who took the test before you. Without asking specifics, ask them what areas the test focused on. You can spend the rest of your free time before the test looking over the textbook, handouts, and notes on those subjects.

Never ask for specific questions from the exam. If you get caught doing that, you’ll be in trouble for cheating.

4

Ask questions in class. Think about how much you hate giving presentations in class, even if they’re just five minutes long. Imagine doing that all day every day — that’s what teaching is! When students ask questions, it makes teachers feel great because they don’t feel like they’re doing all that work for nothing.

Make sure to ask at least one question in every class, every day.

It doesn’t have to even be a smart question — just show the teacher that you’re paying some kind of attention.

Your teachers will remember you as a student who wants to learn and understand, even if you’re just going through the motion of asking questions. They might be more forgiving when it comes time to enter grades at the end of the year.

5

Learn your teacher’s favorite topics within the subject. Which book did your English teacher say changed her life when he was your age? Which president does your US History teacher keep bringing up over and over again, no matter what she’s supposed to be covering? Use this information to your benefit.

If a teacher enjoys reading your paper because it’s on their favorite subject, it might influence them to give you a higher grade.

Some teachers might be more likely to put questions about their favorite subject on tests.

6

Keep your teachers interested. Avoid writing papers that will bore your teachers. Even if you don’t want to put more work into the researching and crafting of your paper, the simple step of choosing your topic wisely can make a difference in your grade. Don’t write a paper on the same subject as half of your classmates. Teachers don’t actually enjoy reading hundreds of papers on the exact same thing — so break up the monotony of grading for them.

Put them in a better mood while reading your paper simply by choosing an unexpected topic.

You might get a better grade than you would for a paper you put the same amount of effort into, but which bored the teacher.

7

Figure out if your teachers want to be challenged or agreed with. Learn how to play into what your teachers want from you, and you’ll get far in their class without having to put in extra work.

Does your teacher want students to question assumptions? Use your one question for the day to play devil’s advocate with something the teacher said, so they think you’re using your critical thinking skills. Think of something your teacher has argued, and then argue the opposite stance in your paper.

Does your teacher love the sound of their own voice? Do they always have to be right? Then parrot their ideas back to them in your papers.